Toute La Bande - Vacances En Bretagne

Year Published: 1970

Format: 16mm

Color: Color

Sound: sound

Description:    This is one of the films in the 'Toute La Bande' series. This film is a landmark of interracial personal relationships in educational films. In his book 'Films You Saw in School,' (McFarland) Geoff Alexander writes: ‘Toute La Bande’ was an exceptional thirteen-part French language instruction series of 1970, created by language educator Mary Glasgow and produced by Donald Carter.[1] Each film in the series consists of a light drama, sequentially beginning with the arrival of a student from Dakar, Senegal (“Elisabeth,” as played by future French voiceover star Marie-Christine "Maik" Darah), into the home of the Ermont family in France. As the series evolves, character development emerges, as crusty brother Victor becomes attracted to Elisabeth, putting his arm around her as they go for a stroll (Vacances en Bretagne, dir. Pierre Sisser), and dancing with her in the highly charged discotheque atmosphere of the final film in the series, Bon Anniversaire! (dir. Jacques Soumet).  Although only hinting at their romantic involvement, the series introduces the concept of interracial dating as a norm, in possibly its earliest portrayal in a classroom academic film distributed in North America. The series is notable for its exceptional directing, by Sisset and Soumet, and fine acting, featuring wonderful stock French actors such as Zappy Max, and future notables, including Emmanuel Dechartre. [1] About Mary Glasgow, Ann King writes: “Mary had a background in education – she had been a teacher of modern languages and then an HMI (Her Majesty's Inspector of Schools)… Mary had launched into publishing in 1960 with the successful production of a series of magazines and recordings (on 45rpm discs) for school learners of French and German (later, Spanish, Italian and Russian were added), embodying her conviction that language learning should engage the pupils' interest, be enjoyable, and that the voices should be authentic. Over the next few years, Mary Glasgow Publications emerged as a major player in the languages education field, broadening its range to include films, visual aids, and television courses. Mary’s love of France led her to buy and restore a hilltop property in a village in Provence, and to make it the subject of Portrait d’un Village: Entrechaux, her first short (12-15 minutes) film for young learners, which portrays the life and culture of a southern French community. A similar film based in Normandy, Fête à Coutances followed in 1973. After Mary left publishing, she founded in 1978 the Mary Glasgow Language Trust, with the aim of providing material support to enterprising language teachers. Since Mary’s death in 1983, the small group of Trustees, under the chairmanship of her nephew, Edwin Glasgow QC CBE, has maintained and developed this goal.” (Ann King, The Mary Glasgow Language Trust, letter to the author, December 20, 2009.